Allan, You may well be right. I've seen it happen before. But let me play Devil's Advocate. Why is it that when I do a parent search at IGI using James Smith and Mary, I get a whole series of children between 1830 - 1850 to James Smith and Mary Seagram. But the only one missing is James. And secondly, if the father died before 1845, how can you be sure from later censuses who's son he was? Do you have any idea when the parents married? I couldn't find anything on IGI or Free BMD. And of course the problem is the number of Smith possibilities. Have you found James with any siblings? Perhaps you also need to look closely at the marriage certificate. Do his age and occupation confirm anything? You don't give any information to enable further checks. There were a number of christenings records for James with father Thomas at Stagsden around this period. Which makes me wonder. No James /James combinations, but nearly half a dozen James/Thomas. I would click on Stagsden batches and try and put all the christenings into families. It's likely that Thomas and James (Snr) are brothers. I think Thomas' wife was Charlotte. Knowing James Jnr's siblings will them be a big help in ensuring that you have the right family in 1851 Census. Also look out for the possibility of Mary remarrying. It's possible that James may appear under the surname of his step father. (That I have seen) Hope this is of some help. If you want to send me details of siblings and a copy of the marriage certificate off list, I'm happy to have another look. But I don't have access to census data. Peter in Sydney